The dark cloud of commercial real estate loan defaults is inching closer, threatening to shutter more banks, even as the U.S. Federal Reserve declares the recession to be over.

Mortgage delinquencies move higher…Euro pushed higher by European data…Economist predicts Norway will be first to raise…Mexico to leave rates unchanged…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

No currency movement to speak of… Buffett calls out the deficits… PIMCO does too! SNB selling francs to stem gains… nd Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Housing Market Showing Signs of Stability? Puh-lease!

Is it time to buy a house? Depends…

Last weekend, we journeyed to Boston to attend a college graduation. Thousands of callow scholars were on display. Each was handed his papers…and then marched out of the hockey stadium. To the tune of ‘Pomp & Circumstance,’ wearing a long, red robe, he entered the outside world solemnly…like a patsy joining a poker game.

My five-year old daughter has a thick mane of chestnut colored hair on her head. By the time she goes to school, it always looks perfect – but few people know about the work involved beforehand. My wife or I usually have to spend 15 minutes untangling the knots in what invariably starts out as a post-sleep bird’s nest.

Another bad omen for stocks comes from storied hedge fund T2. According to Reuters, T2 partners Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue Tilson “have halted their move into the US mortgage bond market.”

The banking-sector crisis is getting better by the minute. What was a financial disaster has turned into some first-rate political entertainment. Our nation’s leaders are putting in an award-winning performance.

Rick Santelli is a chump. It pains me to say so.  I wanted so much to watch his infamous “Rant” video on CNBC and say, “Hear! Hear!”  But I can’t bring myself to do it.